CHARLOTTE — Russell Wilson writes messages on his wrist as reminders to himself and his teammates during games. Sunday’s word: poise.

Seattle’s rookie quarterback showed plenty of that Sunday at Carolina, passing for a season-high 221 yards and a touchdown while overcoming two interceptions to help the Seahawks beat the Panthers 16-12.

“That was a huge win for us — our first win on the road, which is crucial,” Wilson said. “We’ve got to make plays and guys did today.”

Wilson, making a return to the state where he played collegiately at N.C. State before starring his final season at Wisconsin, went 19-for-25 for his most efficient outing of the young season. Wilson also played baseball nearby for the Gastonia Grizzlies of the Coastal Plain League in 2009 and he was glad to return to this area and play so well.

“It was great, obviously, getting to see my family and friends and a whole bunch of N.C. State fans I’m sure,” Wilson said. “Obviously I don’t pay attention to all of that stuff. I’m so focused and lasered in on what I need to do to be great. It was a good day today. Obviously I want to have a better day that’s for sure but we came out with a huge win.”

Wilson led the Seahawks to scoring drives on two of the first three possessions as Seattle took a 6-0 lead on a pair of field goals. With Seattle trailing late in the third, Wilson engineered a five-play, 73-yard drive and capped it with a 13-yard touchdown pass to Golden Tate that gave the Seahawks the lead for good.

Head coach Pete Carroll called Wilson’s performance “fantastic” and praised the rookie’s execution.

“Everything was dead on the money all day long,” Carroll said.

That execution helped Seattle go 7-for-14 on third downs. The Seahawks’ first two possessions of the second half, however, ended in interceptions. Captain Munnerlyn returned the first one 33 yards for a touchdown to give the Panthers their first lead at 10-6. Luke Kuechly intercepted Wilson five plays later but this turnover was harmless as the Panthers wound up punting.

“I’ve got to get better,” Wilson said. “There’s two plays in there that I want to take back but the key is to keep prevailing.”

Offensive woes

Carolina’s 190 yards represented its worst total of the season, sinking below the previous low of 301 yards in the opener against Tampa Bay. The Panthers rushed for 82 yards and passed for a season-low 108 as Cam Newton completed 12 of 29 passes.

The offense was especially sluggish in the first half, when it managed 93 yards, another season low that fell below the previous worst of 109 yards against Tampa Bay.

Page 2 of 2 - In the first half, the Panthers rushed for 70 yards and passed for 23 with Newton going 3-for-15. Carolina didn’t reach Seattle territory for the first time until the 1:51 mark of the second quarter on a drive that led to a 32-yard Justin Medlock field goal to draw within 6-3 just before the break.

Streaking Smith

Steve Smith extended his Panthers record of consecutive games with a catch to 80 games. The streak began the final game of the 2006 season against New Orleans.

Wilson is the fourth NFL quarterback to have played baseball at Gastonia’s Sims Legion Park before beginning his NFL career.

The previous athletes to do so were Roman Gabriel in a 1956 American Legion tournament with Wilmington Post 10 and Archie Manning (1969) and Norris Wease (1972) in collegiate district tournaments for Mississippi. — Richard Walker